Mnemosyne
by Porporino the III
Summary: Sora and Roxas were connected…they shared the same abilities. Kairi’s found that the same rules apply for her and Naminé, and it’s threatening to tear her mind apart…
1. Prologue: Cracked

Mnemosyne

XxXxX

**Summary: **

Sora and Roxas were connected…they shared the same abilities. Kairi's found that the same rules apply for her and _Naminé_, and it's threatening to tear her mind apart…

**Disclaimer:**

I don't, that's DON'T, own or lay claim, to the Kingdom Hearts Franchise. (If I did, Riku and Kairi would absolutely be joining as party members in the next KH adventure, which I'm beginning to think won't happen).

XxXxX

~Cracked~ (Prologue)

"Sine! Cosine! Tangent! YUCK! I'm sooooo _tired_ of this!"

Selphie was stomping her foot underneath her desk, looking down all fierce like at the math worksheet she'd gotten last period.

"Well we went over this stuff together you know Selph… If you'd been paying attention you wouldn't have to finish it for homework…" Tidus was one to talk, since he'd been in the class right along with her, and couldn't remember a thing.

"Oh shut it Tidus… If you were smarter, I wouldn't be in this—" Selphie was almost too good at spreading blame these days.

"-Aaaand here we go Wakka! All Aboard! The Blame Train is leaving the station!" Rolling your eyes as quickly as Tidus could, looked pretty dang painful. (Though it probably didn't hurt as much as Selphie's notebook against his face.)

"Don't go bringing Wakka in to this! Bartz said Wakka was in the same boat as me last semester at their school when he couldn't stop looking at the creepy girl with the dark clothes and the funny dolls—!"

And that's where I drew the line. "Hey now! Lulu is not creepy! She's just a little different okay?" She was kinda sweet even, when she wanted to be. She just didn't want to be very often…well,…almost _never_ really.

"You're kiddin right?" The left side of Tidus's face was turning a rather angry shade of red thanks to Selphie's projectile notebook. He kept pullin at his funny blue tie, trying to loosen it. "A _little_? She's a total Gothic Fruit Cake man!"

Lulu wasn't really all that bad. Bartz's pride and big mouth were some of the reasons she got such a bad rap. He tried getting me to believe that every time she turned him down, something bad happened to him, like a broken arm, or a broken leg, or accidentally breaking Tidus's nose…

"—with those weird-ass Voodoo dolls of hers. You know that weird short kid who acts like a Knight? He says Lulu even has a doll of _him_ in her collection; all cuz he kept trying to be a gentleman and open doors for her." That was me all of last year too. Every chance I got, I tried to be nice to her and stuff. Thanks to Kairi's advice, I wasn't trying so hard to always be there to do stuff for Lulu, invading her 'personal bubble' or somethin, and she actually seemed to take notice of that.

'_Leave it to another girl to know how to get a guy noticed by one ya?'_

Then again, with her transferring schools, it wasn't all that easy to see her too often, so that probably helped. With my mind totally focused on Lulu, and keeping Tidus and Selphie from making a scene, I decided it was time to pack up and finally get off campus; I started putting my books and notes back into my shoulder bag. They allowed us to stay inside the building for awhile, here at their school, but on Fridays they closed early and tried herding you right out the doors the minute they saw you.

"You know… Sora and Kairi and Riku are a lot like Sine and Cosine and Tangent…" I had thought Selphie was done with that stuff for the day.

Tidus started packin away his stuff too. "I thought we were still talking about Wakka's weird taste in girls?"

"I stopped talking about that some time ago. Just goes to show how slow you are…" Selphie stuck her tongue out.

"Forget you!"

"Of course you would, you're slow!"

I knew they'd get tired eventually, so I started heading out to the hall on my own.

"But really though, think about it! Use that furball you call a head… Sora's the Sine, Kairi's the Cosine and Riku's the Tangent!" Wait a minute,… what?

"Selphie… what the hell are you talking about?" I agreed with Tidus. What _was_ she talking about…?

"Sine and Cosine are similar, kinda like Sora and Kairi. And then there's Tangent, which is different but still a part of the others, like Riku… Although… Sora and Riku were friends before Kairi came along, so maybe he's Cosine… and Kairi's Tangent?" Selphie wasn't gonna let this go… What was worse, I was actually startin to think about it too.

Tidus started pullin his tie the rest of the way off. "As interesting as all that is Selphie, Wakka and I gotta go practice some more of our game. The coach here said he'd take a look at it, and maybe recommend us to some big Sports hotshot if it looked cleaned up enough."

"Psh,… your silly ball game? That Blutz Ball?" She just didn't appreciate the fact that we hadn't hung out as often as we used to. What with her and Tidus goin off to a different school, the only times we got to see each other were on weekends and after classes, when work and other things didn't get in the way.

"Come and watch us play ya? We can show you how far we've gotten with it. Maybe even teach ya how to play?"

"If not, at least we could spar for a bit like the old days."

' _I wonder if she still has that old jump rope of hers.'_

Selphie crossed her arms, and she closed her eyes, like she was thinkin real hard. I wouldn't be surprised if she just said no till we begged her to co-

"Okays!" She burst out a sunny smile and tucked her hands behind her back. "I'll just go get changed first and meet you guys… at the play island right?"

"Right. We'll see you there," Tidus seemed a little more excited now.

Selphie bounced off towards her house while Tidus turned towards me. "I'm just gotta go get changed too. This uniform's makin me itch…"

"Yeah well man, maybe if you showered after P.E. you wouldn't have to deal with it ya?" Fear of foot fungus or not, the kid was really startin to smell.

"Ah shut it!" Tidus looked out far towards the Play Island, scratching his chest with both hands. Finally he just tore open his shirt and embraced the breeze. I'm surprised none of his buttons flew off from that.

"I'll just head out and meet you and Selphie there. I already got my gear on underneath my track clothes." Comfort was the benefit of staying at a public school. We waved each other off, and after a detour to pick up my old fighting Ball, I jogged my way down to the beach. I started spinning the thing on my finger, glad to know I still had the talent to keep the thing balanced.

I used to go everywhere with this thing, even spinning it whenever I was studying for something, or in the bathroom, but these days I just barely ever had the calmness or interest, or hell, Free Time(!), to sit back and relax anymore. As I watched the ball spin itself over and over again on my finger, I couldn't help but think how badly I hoped Tidus was right; I really wanted this game of ours to be our big ticket to something great…

XxXxX

Even with my 15 minute delay in getting here, I still beat Tidus to the Island. (Selphie I'd pretty much expected to beat anyway). He'd probably gotten sidetracked by his mother, and Selphie by her closet.

Whatever. "Guess I should start gettin set up while I wait."

I started whistling as I walked over to the door on the other side of the beach. We usually practiced on the far side of the island since the water was deeper back there.

'_I wonder if Selphie even knows that our game is played under the water…'_

What Selphie did or didn't know about our game though didn't matter. I realized as I got closer to the bridge that connected to the islet, (Riku's old space) that my whistling had kept me from hearing the small sounds coming from behind it. Whatever it was, it started getting louder.

As I walked a little faster around the islet, passed the bridge, I saw her.

Laying on her knees, the water just barely reaching her and parts of her skirt, Kairi was crying. Her back was to me, and it seemed like she was holding something. Her right arm was held up, like she was trying to cradle something, but from where I was, it didn't look like there was anything there.

"B-But then….w-who will I have…"

Her sobs were getting really bad now. In a few quick strides, I was there kneeling behind her. Just before I put my arm on her shoulder and asked what was wrong, she burst out with a scream.

"**NO**!"

I fell onto my butt. What the hell was wrong?

"Kairi?" I extended my arm to her right shoulder, but she just cringed, and seemed to shrink into herself. The arm she'd been holding in the air was now wrapped around herself, and she still wouldn't turn around.

"I'm so sorry….so sorry… Please… FORGIVE ME!"

I didn't have the slightest clue what was going on. "Kairi, what's wrong!?" As far as I knew, Sora and Riku were completely okay. I'd walked with them since we were all headed to the same place. Something had seemed wrong with them though. These last couple of months they'd been pretty distant. And Kairi…

"…come back, please… I'm s-sorry…" I could see her tears falling into the sand as I leaned over her. I tried getting her to turn at least, but she wouldn't budge. It wasn't like she was resisting or turning away, but she felt too solid for me to actually move.

Whatever was wrong, it looked like it was breaking her apart. She needed help. I kneeled right in front of her, not caring that my ass and legs were getting wet now with the water.

"Kairi, it's Wakka." She hadn't looked up at me once, so I wasn't sure if she'd known it was me. "What's the matter? Are you alright? Did someone hurt you?" She looked completely fine, except for the total breakdown she was going through…

She raised her head a little, but only high enough to where her eyes were staring through her tears to my chest. Had someone attacked her? Where were Sora and Riku?

"It's my fault…why did this…WHY?!"

That was enough. I took her shoulders, not caring that she'd spasmed from my unannounced touch. "Tell me what's wrong ya? I can't help you if I don't know what happened! Were you attacked? Did something happen to Sora or Riku?"

"She's g-gone… and it's all…my fault…She's gone…because of me…" She raised her head finally, and all that red hair fell away to reveal those big, soft, soaking, violet eyes. She opened her right hand to me. "I KILLED MY BEST FRIEND!!"

She'd crushed the shell to dust in her palm, and it looked like doing so had cut it up a little bit. From the color of the dust, even mixed in with some of her blood, I guessed it was one of those Thalassa shells she used to always play with.

I was really freakin out now. Was she goin nuts? I was prayin like crazy that Tidus and Selphie would show up soon… I wondered if I should just take Kairi back to my boat and get back to the mainland. But I really had to know…

"Kairi, tell me. Whatever it is, I'm sure it's not your fault… Who's gone though? Who are you talking about? The shell?"

"(sh..)" 'Sh?' Was it the shell? Her voice was suddenly a lot softer, not much more than a whisper. I really couldn't even hear her.

She looked down at the dust again in her hand, and clenched it into a fist. When her head snapped up, her eyes closed tight, I half expected the girl to just hit me, or throw the Thalassa dust into my eyes, but all she did was clasp her other hand around her fist, and bring it to her chest.. The look in her eyes was almost too much for me. She looked way too calm, like the islands during a devastating storm.

"…Xion…"

XxXxX

OxOxO

Okay! So this Prologue was actually written after the 1st chapter was already done. I hope there weren't any horrible mistakes anywhere. This story, as I've stated next chapter, is what I believe will help me get out of this Ridiculously long Funk I've been in and get back to writing.

This part of the story takes place like, several months into what's going to be happening. More or less. Well see XD

Please be sure to review and tell me what you thought! Or better yet, what you think! Did you like the ending? Was is cliff hanger-y enough? Let me know please!

Review(X)Review(X)Please(X)Review(X)Review


	2. Fragmented

Mnemosyne

XxXxX

**Summary: **

Sora and Roxas were connected…they shared the same abilities. Kairi's found that the same rules apply for her and _Naminé_, and it's threatening to tear her mind apart…

_Even before the game's been out here in the states, I've been using the info from Birth By Sleep to kind of make connections between the characters (Terra to Riku, or Terra to Sora, Ventus to…well I'll leave the rest for later __), for plot purposes. I have seen many videos of the Birth By Sleep game in Japanese, with subtitles, so I know the gist of what happens, and what's going to happen (along with whatever nonsense Kh: Coded tried to bring to the table). I'll leave the proper Spoiler Tags up wherever necessary._

_I'll also fill in some small blank spots with canon information, and leave the rest to my imagination. _

**Disclaimer:**

I don't, that's DON'T, own or lay claim, to the Kingdom Hearts Franchise. (If I did, Riku and Kairi would absolutely be joining as party members in the next KH adventure, which I'm beginning to think won't happen).

!! Just as an aside, after my first two Reviews, (**Flightfoot**, **Divine Wolfe**, Thank you very much!) I realized that I wasn't being clear enough.

The first chapter was supposed to be entirely in Wakka's point of view yes, and I promise to do my best to add more description. One of the reasons that I came to fear writing for the past few years was because I could come up with great images in my head, but lacked the ability to properly convey what I wanted to see. I don't want to get stuck for forever trying to make sure that everything looks good. Anyway, baby steps.

And two! This is supposed to be something, as close as I can be, set in the actual KH universe. More like a possible scenario of something I thought would be interesting to explore. Tetsuya Nomura said in an interview that Roxas and Sora were able to use each other's talents and abilities (Double Wielding and Skateboarding for instance?) whenever they wanted. So I thought, maybe Kairi and _Naminé could do the same? Anyway, these are my thoughts on what could possibly happen. JUST TO MAKE SURE YOU KNOW. The prologue chapter was set several "months" into the future. This is where everything really starts…_

_Hope you enjoy. _

XxXxX

~_Fragmented_~

There was a storm on the way, next couple of hours more than likely, the clouds were clumping together and graying. The breeze sweeping through the islands felt wonderful after a stuffy day indoors, and I was grateful for the cool winds. I couldn't wait to slip into my lounging clothes, and lay around my room with the window wide open.

My mental preparations for the rest of the day were then easily distracted by a warm but slightly gravelly voice that piped up somewhere ahead of me. "I just wanna rest Riku! Would ya get off my back? PLEASE!"

A velvet voice laced with aggravation responded. "Don't give me that crap! I'm Trying to get you to pass this test! You're not gonna be getting any answers off of my paper this time!"

The boys were in clear view now, maybe half a mile away, and speaking pretty loudly. They were trotting down the dirt pathway to meet me, as had become ritualistic the last few weeks, wearing comfy casual clothes that they'd no doubt worn the whole day; Sora was in a red short sleeve with a hoodie, cargo shorts and flip flops, while Riku, as usual, showed off his impressive arms with a sleeveless vest, and dark pants and boots. They weren't attending the same private school I was, and so no mandatory clothing uniform had been thrust on them. As much as I appreciated the advanced education and whatnot, the monotony of plaid skirts was beginning to drive me bonkers.

"I _am_ ready! I've been studying every day after school for the last 3 weeks!"

"Your half ass approach to studying doesn't count Sora. I know you. You're completely incapable of studying when the music is on, when you're eating or watching T.v., or when you're off trying to get Roxas to talk to you!"

Truth be told, I did the same thing with_ Naminé, though she wasn't a very chatty person really_.

"_I'm sorry for that… I don't have too much to say really…"_

"_It's alright! No need to apologize… I just appreciate the company." _

She never judged, and when she did speak, it was always something insightful and brimming with honest (heartfelt?) sincerity; I felt pretty jealous sometimes that maybe I wasn't as interesting to talk to. On that note, I wondered what kind of conversation I could carry with Roxas, or for that matter, what _Naminé_ and Roxas usually talked about.

After a frustrated and overly dramatized groan, (Sora really should join Theatre when the fall semester starts up again) Sora then broke off into a sprint, racing closer and closer towards me. "Enough Riku! I know what I'm doing!"

Riku chased after, his usually peachy face turning a frustrated red that even his long silver bangs couldn't hide. "I'd bet my GPA you don't!"

And that's about enough of that. Just as Sora made it to 5 feet ahead of me, I thrust my hand forward like one of the cross walk ladies in front of the elementary schools. Even a couple of months of relative peace and solitude weren't enough to dull either Sora's or Riku's reflexes. Sora almost instantly halted as soon as he saw the hand, with Riku mere seconds after.

While wondering if maybe Selphie was right, (did have the boys "whipped?") I walked straight in between them and planted my customary, after-school, kiss on the cheek to my boys. It was mostly to show my appreciation for seeing them at the end of another day (I still had borderline nightmares of abandonment where these two were concerned), and partly because I loved seeing them blush and fluster. Sora rubbed the back of his lowered head as usual, while Riku tugged that the color of his army green vest (when Riku was angry his face heated up, but when he was embarrassed, his neck took center stage).

"Hey Kairi," Sora and Riku said with a smile and a grin.

"Hey guys," my cheeks reddened under their gaze, and arms locked, myself in-between, we started walking back up the path to our homes.

XxXxX

"I told you Sora, uniform or not, high schools don't typically allow flip flops."

We were all sitting around my room-

"_Door open Kairi, alright?"_

-windows and bedroom door open, as per my dad's request since I had Two boys keeping me company, as the breeze washed over us and our textbooks. I had changed when I first came in, the boys waiting downstairs, and now wore a loose black tank top, and a brown skirt/shorts combo. I had occupied the big blue chair Riku and I moved in front of my bed, Riku had taken the bed itself, and Sora had taken the old yellow bean bag chair he'd left at my house some time ago.

"But it's not fair! My mom's gonna end up lecturing me, or my dad's just gonna give me one of those _'I'm disappointed that you didn't use good judgement,_' speeches. –

'_For all of Sora's Dad's goofy antics and clumsiness (maybe that's why Sora got along so well with Goofy?) he sure could set a proper example, and dish out serious advice, when the situation called for it.'_

"It was such a great day to wear them too… The sun shining and just a little wind blowing, it was so comfortable…," Sora's eyes closed and his smile nearly doubled, no doubt remembering how "comfortable" he was earlier.

"Which is probably why you fell asleep during History, which led to the teacher asking you to stand up for the rest of the class, and which is why he noticed your flip flops." Riku said all this without looking up from the page of his Chemistry workbook.

Sora merely stuck out his tongue and said, "Well if you had warned me he was coming my way…"

"I wondered when you'd speak up Riku, you've been silent for the past half hour." I felt kinda bad for disturbing him all this time he'd been trying to study, but a little worse for leaving him out of the conversation. He'd been trying so hard lately to get back on track with his grades, and all things considered he'd been doing remarkably well. He'd just become such a stickler for studying lately, which in turn bothered Sora constantly, who, as if to make up for lost time (which really was _more_ than true) wanted to hang around and have fun.

"Well it just feels like the right time for a break, I guess…," Riku's smile seemed a little forced, but only because he seemed like he was trying not to laugh at us.

"Our Usual Spot then?" Sora started chuckling, and it wasn't until I remembered another trio of friends, in a town of perpetual Twilight, that I did the same. Poor Riku just slipped his boots on and wondered what the heck was wrong with us.

XxXxX

Even with the sun setting, and the dark clouds and chilled winds cooling the sea, we felt remarkably warm and content as we sat huddled together with our backs against the trunk of the paopu tree. Riku was in the middle this time, me on his right, and Sora on his left. He'd said it only made sense, he being the tallest, but I knew he enjoyed the feeling of having us so close-

"Sora, your hair is stabbing my neck."

"Sorry Riku."

-well, enjoyed it for the most part, anyway.

The wind was picking up again, sending our hair into disarray, and a few smaller leaves and flower petals into the air. I heard some rustling above, and realized that even against all this wind, the Paopu fruits remained securely connected to their stems and to the tree. Seeing that shape, that fruit, triggered something inside me, triggered multitudes of thoughts to spring up inside my head…

…_My charm, me and Sora's promise, the carvings we drew into the walls of our Secret Place, all the drawings the three of us had done, Riku... Roxas and ____Naminé__, Olette, Hayner, and Pence,_ (as well as the other friends I'd made there)_ Riku and Sora, Selphie, Tidus and Wakka,…Axel… Riku and Sora and me. _

I was beginning to get a headache.

I scooted in closer to Riku and closed my eyes tight; with the clouds and the sun setting, I could barely see any real light anymore anyway, and realized we probably had less than an hour before nightfall. We needed to head out soon. Even so, I couldn't find the energy to tell the others. I opened my eyes only a moment later, or at least I thought I did.

The clouds were all gone, and the wind had subsided. There were some chirpings from crickets here and there from behind us, and even with the light of the lanterns, the stars above us looked so bright against the darkened sky. I could smell something rather tasty cooking from back inside, so I'm sure the boys had already noticed.

"We should probably head back now," they both turned to look at me, "As nice as this is, if we're late again, Master Eraqus may keep our dinners _postponed_." My arms and legs were the definition of sore, and I was in no mood for pre-dinner sparring drills. I got up, and intended to start walking back, but someone's hand brushed against my leg.

"Kairi… What are you talking about?" His voice echoed, and my face felt the vibrations that shook my surroundings.

I looked down at Riku, his wondrous green eyes murky with confusion, and suddenly everything started spinning.

XxXxX

_( As usual, she was staring off into space, hands clasped and hearts in her eyes… Tidus and Kairi told me all she ever talked about was love, but I hadn't ever seen her do it till now. Who cared about that fruit anyway? But …I wonder how it tastes…_

~"_Its so romantic! I gotta try it sometime…"_~

_Me too… )_

………**Selphie?**

'**Kairi please, wake up!'**

I woke up to the urgent sound of _Naminé's soft_ voice, and knew my hair was wet and full of sand. Riku and Sora were leaning over me, surprise and relief obvious on their faces.

"Geeze Kairi, now who's the lazy bum?"

"You scared the living hell out of us!"

I tried getting up, but Riku kept me down against whatever soft surface was beneath me. My bed? This felt like my room, and the creamy comforter seemed all too familiar. "What happened?" My god did my voice sound hoarse.

"Sora, you explain it to her, I'll go tell her parents she's awake," He turned to me and gave my forehead a quick peck before moving for the door.

"Wait," I tried reaching out, even though Riku was already outside my room. He came back in twice as fast as it had taken him to leave my room in the first place. "Then why am I all wet and stuff?"

Sora gave a weakened version of his typical sheepish smile, "You kinda fell off the islet into the water. We tried to catch you but…"

"…we didn't realize quickly enough what was happening. We're sorry about that." Riku looked very apologetic, but it felt like there was something he wanted to ask.

"Yeah, sorry Kairi." Sora's eyes locked with mine, and I offered a small smile to him and then Riku in return.

Even with my dry throat I couldn't help but laugh a little. "Tch, figures. Even with all that fancy training and keyblade wielding experience, your reaction-times suck." Both boys looked surprised, with their mouths left hanging.

I'd always been a little sarcastic, but between the end of our (their) first and second adventures, not to mention that interesting detour with Axel, I'd developed quite the quirk to blurt out a biting barb. Never to harm though. I just loved seeing their reactions…

"We managed to _save worlds_ with that training and Keyblade experience…," started Riku. He crossed his arms, but it was obvious with his smirk that he knew I was only poking fun.

"Twice! Twice for each world even!" Sora corrected. As if I could ever forget. My life was on the increasingly long list of lives they'd saved, (at least several times)… Regardless, something in me felt like going further.

"A lot of good it all did you. Taking down creatures three times your size out to destroy the Multiverse? _Sure_, no big deal… But stopping me from plummeting to my near-death when I'm only _two_ feet away from you, and suddenly you guys have rubber legs…"

I snorted, and then we all started laughing. My father or mother must've heard us laughing, or their parent senses were tingling, because they raced upstairs to my room and started hugging and kissing me, asking me how I felt. I could see my mother had forgotten to remove her eyeliner.

"You guys were gonna go out tonight weren't you…?" I felt bad for ruining it. They hardly ever went out these days, though I didn't think it bothered them that much.

"It's no big deal, we're just glad you're okay. We, well…, we freaked when we heard what happened." He smiled. He was always so formal, almost stiff sometimes, but it made me warm inside when he slipped off the Mayor Mask.

"Who knows, with you're friends here, maybe well head out anyway…" My mother was an absolute dork, always teasing me like this.

Sora of course spoke up at this, and said he and Riku would be happy to take care of me.

My mother gave Sora one of her biggest smiles. "Such sweet boys." She must have forgotten the time they coated the inside of her slippers with glue. Judging from my dad's raised eyebrows, _he_ certainly didn't.

XxXxX

OxOxO

!!Okay so, what do you guys think so far? Decent? Should I keep going? The idea wouldn't leave me alone, and I wanted to see if I could get out of this funk I've had (for the last several years). I think this will help me get ahead with my Persona 4, and Pokemon stories too.

Hopefully I've peaked your interest. If you do or don't want more, tell me why yeah? Reviews are the best way to let me know after all. Thanks in advance.

**Flightfoot**: My apologies for not being clearer. Haven't really written in a while, but I won't let this murky-feel from my stories linger too long. Just keep my informed when I start messin up! Thank you.

**Divine Wolfe**: Thank you for your kind words. I promise to make this as close to epic (or at least a pretty darn good read) as I can. I can't say that Xion will make many appearances in this story, but I have another coming up soon(!) where she'll be featured more prominently. It focuses on Sora (…COM) and his coma. Hope you'll like that one!


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